Havana, Jun 19 (ACN) - The Cuban men's team debuted with a 3-0 victory over Nicaragua on the second day of the First North, Central America and Caribbean (Norceca) U-17 Pan American Volleyball Cup at the Multifunctional Auditorium in Colima, Mexico, where they will face Puerto Rico today.

 According to the website (www.norceca.net), the Cubans swept the Nicaraguans in group B with scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-12, with dominance in all elements of the game and highlights for Bayron Herrera, top scorer of the match with 14 points.

Andy Lázaro Marrero (12/10-2-0), Samuel Alejandro Rodríguez (12/6-0-6) and Maykol Jesús Chacón (10/5-2-3) were also outstanding for the disciples of technical director Frank Almendariz Dávalos, while for assistant coach Benito Escorcia the best was Keneth Adolfo Urcheco (9/6-2-1).

Almendariz's pupils dominated the match in attack, 38 points to 22, blocking (8-3), service (15-6) and own errors that gave away scores to the rivals (15-16).

In the other two matches on Tuesday, but in section A, Canada and Mexico defeated Guatemala (21-25, 25-19, 25-15 and 26-24) and Costa Rica (28-26, 25-27 and 25-16), respectively, 3-1 and 3-0.

On Monday, Puerto Rico overcame Nicaragua 3-0 (25-11, 25-11 and 25-10) in key B, and in key A, the Canadians and Mexicans defeated the Costa Ricans 3-2 and 3-1 (23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 31-29 and 15-10) and the Guatemalans (25-18, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-19), in that order.

 Wednesday's schedule is completed with the matches of segment A, Costa Rica-Guatemala and Mexico-Canada, closing day of the group stage.

According to the tournament schedule, the first of each group will advance directly to Friday's semifinals, the second and third places will meet on Thursday in the quarterfinals and on Saturday the medals will be discussed, and the remaining steps of the tournament will be defined.

The Cup is part of the qualification system for the 2025 Norceca Continental Championship and the 2026 World Championship, both in the category.